


fairyland

by Im_Vexed, whathegeometry



Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, F/F, Gay Will Byers, Lesbian Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Pansexual Eleven | Jane Hopper, Siblings Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, universe based on edgar allen poe poetry and welsh folktales
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:07:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 4,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28258182
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Im_Vexed/pseuds/Im_Vexed, https://archiveofourown.org/users/whathegeometry/pseuds/whathegeometry
Summary: max is from here.el is from somewhere else entirely.
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper/Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper, Will Byers & Eleven | Jane Hopper & Maxine "Max" Mayfield, Will Byers/Original Male Character(s)
Kudos: 8





	1. oh desperate seas long wont to roam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello there, and welcome to Fairyland! I am one of your two authors, Vex, and I'll be writing for Max. We hope that you enjoy reading our little adventure, and humor our crazy ideas. Happy reading!
> 
> {disclaimer: these are the duffer brothers' characters and we don't claim to own them in any way. we are not profiting off of this work.}

Max Mayfield hated the beach. 

She hated the sand, and she hated the ocean, and she hated fish, and she hated wearing a bathing suit when her brother made fun of her for it. Well, step-brother. And now, she hated the beach because it was nearly impossible to make a fast escape over the sand dunes. 

With her family yelling for her to stop, wait, come back, talk about this, Max mentally flipped them off and tore off towards the part of the beach they hadn’t been to yet. Fighting with her stepdad and brother wasn’t new for her, but when her mom had started getting upset with her about the ‘bad attitude’ she had towards the trip, Max had decided that she needed a break. And of course, the only way that Max Mayfield could take a break was by running the fuck away. 

She had put her shorts and shirt back over her bathing suit a while ago, and was now regretting wearing sandals as she ran, slipping much more than was necessary. _Fuck the sand,_ she thought, and pushed harder.Max was already half expecting someone to come after her, either her stepdad, or Billy, who had been forced to track her down by their parents. she didn’t hear anyone coming up the way she had come, though, so once she was over the dune, Max stopped. She took a few breaths, looking around to where she had come from, and then taking in where she was. It was the wide mouth of a cave, there was a shallow pool of water that filled the bottom of it, and the thought of walking through it with just her sandals on gave Max the shivers, but a noise behind her was convincing enough that she slowly walked past the threshold of the wide cave. It had holes on the top that let light inside, dappling the water around her ankles with spots of light. But as Max walked deeper and deeper, it became darker and darker. And while she may have been squeamish of the water, Max wasn’t a baby, she could handle a dark cave.

After a few minutes more of walking, stooping down to pick up the smooth rocks that laid on the bottom of the cave and skipping them just to hear the ‘plink plink plink’ noise they made as they jumped off into the darkness, the air around her became colder. That was a bit odd, the day had been perfectly sunny and warm, she hadn’t brought more than shorts and a t-shirt. The breeze back at the beach was warm and inviting, this was more like a cold seaside wind. Something harsh, like it was coming off of a dark and tortured ocean that was never still and was home to many dark things that Max didn’t want to imagine. The water around her feet began to get more shallow, as well, until she was once again walking on land. That was odd, perhaps she would come out on the other side of the beach, and by the time she walked back, the heat from the argument will have cooled off, and they could all just pretend it hadn’t happened.

But that _wind._

Max couldn’t shake the feeling that the wind was different. It was cold and unsettling, cutting right through her shirt and chilling her bone. She steeled herself and continued on, wrapping the thin fabric tighter around her shoulders. The sneaking feeling that perhaps she had walked much farther than anticipated dawned on Max, as a pinprick of light began to grow in front of her eyes. It wasn’t yellow and sunny, like the light from the beach. It was grey, and seemed to be the origin of the freezing gusts. That was strange, because she should’ve walked back out to the beach, right? Maybe a storm had passed over the beach in the time she had been inside the cave. There hadn’t been any clouds last she had seen, but a storm would mean that she would have to find her family under some kind of umbrella, or maybe even all the way back to the car. They would wait for her, that was for sure, her mom would make sure of that. 

But as Max walked closer and closer to the opening of the tunnel, a creeping suspicion slunk into her mind. Maybe she’d somehow left the beach behind. She couldn’t have been walking for more than fifteen minutes, there was no way that in such a short time the beach had turned grey and cold, when it had been sunny and bright when she had left. It was confusing, at best, and she almost turned around to go back the way she had come, but the curiosity of seeing where she had ended up overtook her need of surety that she would be home that night. Which she didn’t doubt, if something happened, all Max had to do was turn around and walk back, surely she would end up back with her family. But she couldn’t shake the odd feeling that something wasn’t right, and that feeling only pushed her onward towards the light.

It grew bigger and bigger in front of her eyes, planting more and more doubt about her true location in her mind. There was no way that she was on the beach anymore, because as she reached the mouth of the cave, all she could see was ocean. Of course, there was land around her, but she seemed to be on some kind of island , surrounded by the sea. And not the blue, relaxing ocean that her mother listened to as she fell asleep, this one was stormy and tortured and grey instead of a dreamy blue color. Max slowly walked out of the cave altogether, feeling frozen by...well...not _fear_ per se, just confusion, perhaps. All she could see was land, a small house, and ocean for miles. And of course, Max didn’t want to freak out, knowing well and good that if she did, if she lost her cool, all hope would be lost of ever finding her way back. She looked around, waking slowly, her eyes wide and her jaw hanging open slightly as she did, Max couldn’t believe how far she’d walked, how had fifteen minutes or so brought _here?_ The wind rippled through her hair, it had been in braids earlier, but she had taken them out, so that now the strong breeze whipped it around her face and she had to tuck it behind her ears.

It was a wasted effort, though, as the wind came up once again and coaxed it back out to blow around her face. The place looked like none that she’d ever seen, not in pictures or illustration it seemed almost unreal, like the sort of place that existed only in your mind as you read a fairytale. The more she looked around, the less she was convinced that this wasn’t just some dream, that she hadn’t hit her head in the cave and was just having a hallucination or some kind of fever dream. It was impossible, unless she had actually walked into some kind of magic cave and come out on the other side into some crazy, fantastical world. But that was ridiculous. 

Wasn’t it? 

Max dared walk a bit farther out from the mouth of the cave. 

It was pretty cold when the wind blew across her skin, but strangely nice in the rare moments that it was calm, though the sky was a stormy, tormented grey as far as she could see. Max could imagine the small, idyllic island being rather serene on a brighter day. The thought of how she had walked all the way to what seemed to be the end of the beach entered her head, and Max quickly dismissed it as the idea that maybe she had just been walking for longer than she thought. Being so long in the dark could do that, right? It didn’t seem as though there was anyone else there at the moment, so she walked further out onto the land. She kept on trying to dismiss the odd feeling that she had, but it just kept on coming back. She wasn’t on the beach anymore, something had happened in that cave, and Max wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. After another few minutes of looking around, something appeared in the distance. It was foggy, and Max couldn’t quite tell who -or what- was approaching her from the direction of what seemed to be the only building on the entire island, but she wasn’t entirely sure she wanted to find out The wind grew stronger, and her hair whipped even faster, almost a warning sign speaking directly towards her ‘get the hell out of here, Max.’ She quickly took the suggestion

“I think the fuck not,” she muttered under her breath as she turned on her heels and ran back into the cave. 

But when her feet weren’t submerged in water after a few moments of running, Max’s stomach dropped. Where was the water? Her shoes were still wet from walking through it the first time, and it can’t have dried up in two or three minutes, that was impossible, even the tide wasn’t that fast. Keeping up hope that she might reach the water if she ran just a little bit longer, Max nearly tripped over her own feet when she saw something ahead of her. There was light, the end of the cave was coming. But that was crazy, she’d only been running for a few minutes, she had walked nearly twenty to get there. The light she saw was just like the light she had left behind, cold and grey and dreary, and it felt like the temperature had dropped even further rather than raised at all.

It was frightening, and Max was now in panic mode, trying to convince herself at all times that perhaps a storm _had_ just come over the beach while she was deep in the cave, sloshing through the water to try and escape from the turmoil between her family. That’s all it was, yes, just a storm and the fact that they had set up closer to the end of the sandy beach than Max had anticipated. And that the time was just eluding her, it had played a trick on her way there, and now it was making fun of her once again, simply toying with her for its own dark amusement. But Max wouldn’t give it the satisfaction, she kept up a steady pace, praying that the water soon covered her feet as she ran, though a part of her mind knew that it wouldn’t.That the light that loomed closer and closer wouldn’t lead her to her family's car, and there was no chance that she was anywhere near the beach anymore. This was somewhere completely different. Somewhere that likely had Max stuck within its clutches.

She pushed the dark thoughts down and kept running down the cave.. The inevitable fact that the water would not come settled into Max’s mind, and one might think that she would stop running towards the light that was fast approaching. But Max was stubborn, and scared, and she was never predictable, so she ran. The motion kept her holding onto the last dregs of hope that she might be met with the sand dunes she had run over not that long ago, with the fear that her step-brother was coming over them in search of the runaway. Those last semblances of hope crumbled as Max neared the entrance of the cave and found herself once again on the island. She hadn’t made a circle, because the building wasn’t there, but it was definitely the same place, with the dark ocean, the whipping winds, and the grey sky. Max found that she was suddenly having trouble breathing. The idea of screaming for help came to her, but who would be listening? There wasn’t any other land around for miles, and seemingly the only other thing on the island was whatever she had run from in the first place, yelling would do her absolutely no help. There was nothing to do, the way she had come obviously wasn’t the way out, and with the shadowy figure likely following her through the cave, she didn’t have time to look for a possible escape. 

  
And so, as Max Mayfield ran farther from the mouth of the cave, she thought to herself that ‘this was it’, not even knowing what _this_ was. It was a scary thing, not knowing where you were, or what would become of you, but soon all of those thoughts were pushed out of her head.As she ran, Max tripped over a rock. She overbalanced and soon found herself falling backwards, hitting her head on a rock, and knocking her out of the world of the conscious.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading chapter one! We'll try to keep a regular posting schedule, but life's crazy sometimes. Anyways, look forward to our next chapter from your second author! Until then.


	2. and all i lov'd, i lov'd alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a glimpse into el and will's life on the island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey guys! my name's dante and i'll be writing for el. this fic is really self-indulgent for both vex and i, so i hope you'll humor us and stick with it!

“What do we do?” Will asked, frantic. The girl’s bright red hair blew in the strong wind as El slowly picked her way across the rocks towards her unconscious body. The cold ocean water lapped up against her legs, chilling her bare feet. Will looked on anxiously, shouting in an attempt for El to hear him over the gusts.

“We bring her home, of course,” El yelled back, feeling the words snatched from her lips by the gale. Will seemed to hear her, if barely, and made his way gingerly over to her and the girl. El examined her face: the freckles that dotted her skin, the gentle curve of her jaw, the slight furrow in her brow. She was beautiful, El thought absentmindedly, if not for the ugly, darkening bruise on her temple. El smiled down at her, and then unceremoniously hoisted her up. The girl stayed limp in her arms, her fiery hair whipping across El’s upper arm. She was heavier than she looked, dense and made of muscle. El carried her across the rocks and up the side of the island carefully, Will trailing behind, spotting El to make sure she didn’t drop the girl’s limp body. This strange girl had overturned what had been almost three years of a simple, worriless life…

\--+--

“Good morning, Ellie!”

El stumbled into the second room of their cabin, which they used as a kitchen, to the sound of Will’s voice and the sizzling of their one pan. He was already dressed, and was cooking fish over an open flame. He was smiling, and his hair was mussed slightly. El looked over at him and smirked. 

“Someone had a good morning.”

“Shut up,” Will blushed.

“Is that the only reason you wake up early, WIlly? To make out with your cute selkie boyfriend?,” El questioned, rolling her eyes good-naturedly.  
“I don’t think you’re in a position to make fun of me, considering I’ve made you breakfast.” 

“All too true,” El said, as Will served her a plate of salmon and eggs. She tucked in gratefully. Their life on this little island was perfect and simple, just as they liked it. Once El finished her breakfast, she washed her clay bowl and drank some water she and Will had distilled.

“Willy, I think it’s time I had a talk with that boy,” El said, looking over at her brother with a bit of a mischievous glint in her eye, and an attempt at a serious look on her face. Will, who was cleaning up from breakfast, sighed good-naturedly. 

“Just because you’re my older sister doesn’t obligate you to not like my boyfriend.”

“Uh, I think it does.” El smiled at her brother. “Come on, at least just let me talk to him.”

“Fine,” Will conceded, placing the last of the dishes on their makeshift cupboard. “I’ll get him, follow me.” He stood and left the cabin, and El trailed after him.

Their cabin was built near the center of their small island, but it was still only a short walk from a small stretch of sandy beach. As El’s feet touched the warm white sand, Will closed his eyes and called out in a language she didn’t know, holding in his hand a small stone, upon which was inscribed a rune. As he spoke, El watched as his hair stood on end and a small, warm wind blew around the beach.

El had never been apt at druidry. It was in their blood, she knew, and she accepted it, but she’d never been any good herself. On the other hand, Will was a natural from the beginning. He had an innate talent, some deep ability to attune with nature’s creations that El had never understood, yet respected deeply. She remembered when they were little kids, when their father would take her, Will, and the twins Duncan and Emilie, into the heart of the woods. She could picture the look of wonder on Will’s face as their father brought out his ancient ash staff and spoke to the spirits of the woods, calling on them to make a sapling grow or clear the underbrush to make a path for their small family to walk through. He’d show them which roots and berries were safe to eat, and which spirits were kind enough to show lost strangers the true way home and not lead them off into the endless mists. 

El had been so young then, they all had, and their father had shown them the world. They’d never really known their mother, only that she’d died very soon after giving birth to the twins. El was the only one with any real memories of her, but they were only fragments. The tune to a song she’d used to sing to El at night, but never the words. The soft, soft feeling of her hair between her fingers. The way her eyes crinkled when she laughed.

Their father never told her nor any of the rest of them how she died, and they never asked. None of them particularly wanted to know. They’d just spent their time in their father’s small house in their small village, helping him sell his draughts and charms from his stand at the market, and disappearing off to the deep, endless woods whenever they could. For Will, it had been a safe place to practice his magic without fear of sideways looks and whispers. For El, it had been an escape, somewhere to disappear to when life was too much. She made friends with the trolls, made up names for the numerous creatures she encountered and drew them in her notebook, along with the place she’d found them and a short description of their mannerisms, Will had helped her on many occasions, and they’d stayed out in the woods for hours at a time, learning more and more about the forest and its inhabitants. They knew from their father what to avoid, and as such were able to find the more benign aspects of the forest life. Moss trolls, the little creatures that curled into balls and rolled like armadillos to move. Nymphs, flying spheres of water, earth, or snow, that roamed the forests in the twilight. The Folk, eyeless wolves that whispered to each other in a deep language even Will couldn’t understand.

As she looked on, shaking herself out of the memory, Will held out the rock in front of him, and the small rune inscribed in the white stone began to glow a slight blue-green color. It pulsed three times, and then went dormant once again. Will stumbled and sat down in the sand, the warm breeze around them dissipating. 

“Now we wait,” Will spoke, looking back at El. “He has the other rock, so if he’s around he’ll come in.” El sat as well, more than content to wait for a while. They were only sitting for a few moments more, though, when something jumped up from the waves, pulling her vision towards the water. The form grew closer until she could tell what it was, a beautiful grey seal. As she followed its shape beneath the water with her eyes, it slowly changed, until when it broke the surface again, it was no longer a seal. It was a gangly teenage boy, with shoulder-length dark hair and pale green eyes. He wore a grey tunic and pants, tied together at the waist with a length of rope. He grinned at her lopsidedly, stepping out of the water and shaking his hair out like a dog. Will walked over, smiled, and put an arm around his shoulders. 

“El, this is my boyfriend, Killian,” Will said, breathing out gently. El and Killian had met a few times before, but this would be the first time since the beginning of their relationship. Killian was a sweet kid, El knew, and she really did like him, but she had to keep up appearances.

“Hello, Killian,” El mused, putting on a serious face. Killian looked at Will hesitantly, then back at El.

“Hello, Eliza,” He said in his thick scottish accent. “Pleasure to meet you.” El smirked. 

“You too, Killian. If you don’t mind, I have a few questions for you.” Will rolled his eyes, squeezing Killian’s hand before letting go and walking back a few steps to give them some semblance of privacy.

“So, what are your questions,” Killian asked, his face showing nothing but curiosity. 

“Well, first thing’s first, what are your intentions with my brother?”

As Killian’s dark shape disappeared under the waves, Will walked back to El’s side. “You didn’t kill him, did you?” El looked at him affectionately. 

“Nope. That kid really loves you, Will.”

“God, I love him too.”

“Awwwww, you _loooove_ him,” El laughed, tickling him. Will laughed too, pushing her off halfheartedly. _These are the moments,_ El thought happily, _when life is perfect._

And then they saw the girl.

\--+--

As El laid the redhead down on an extra bed in their cabin, she marvelled at the beauty of her pale face. Her hair framed her face in tight, fiery waves, matching the hue of those smattering freckles. She really was very pretty. The clothes she wore were strange, though. They were oddly colorful, definitely made with some type of expensive dye. The fabric was just as strange, rough and textured to the touch. She couldn’t believe how much the girl must have paid for clothes like these. Her shoes were also strange, almost rubbery to the touch, and constructed in such a foreign way that she probably wouldn’t even have recognized them as shoes if they hadn’t been attached to the girl’s feet. El looked down at her own tunic and pants. They were one of three outfits she owned, and she’d worn the same for three years. It was oddly humiliating to watch the same clothes continue to fit her year after year, while Will’s shirts clung more and more to his lean frame with every passing month. He was already several inches taller than her, despite being two years younger. She resented the height difference more than she cared to admit to him.

“Weird, isn’t it, the stuff she’s got on?”

“Yeah,” El agreed, looking up at Will. He was sitting at the table, crushing some herbs to make their father’s old cleansing tea, a bitter drink that cleared your head and helped steady your thoughts. El had many memories of waking up dizzy and disoriented, and drinking a couple of sips of the unsavory mixture with breakfast at her dad’s prompting. “You’re making her Dad’s tea?”

“Yeah, it couldn’t hurt,” he said, pouring some boiling water into the cup of herbs. El placed her hand on the girl’s forehead. 

“She doesn’t seem feverish, thank spirits,” she sighed, relieved. “Where do you think she came from?”

“I couldn’t even guess,” Will replied, stirring the concoction. “Do you think she’s alright?”

“She can’t have been hurt that bad, she’s not even bleeding. Probably just a couple days in bed and she’ll be fine.” She and Will both lapsed into silence, and El pondered the mystery of the girl before her. She really didn’t know anything about her. Who was she?

Where could she have possibly come from? What was her life like? She leaned back in her chair, content to wonder.

And then the girl’s eyes fluttered open.


End file.
